I've tried about a dozen times and the same thing happens - I get the 501 error message in English, but I tried the Spanish site and got a message that the credit card issuer didn't authorize the card. So I called my credit card company (Capitol One, master card) and they said that they had no record of renfe's attempt to make a purchase. So renfe isn't even getting through to the card company. (I tried with a Frontier card also, same problem.)

The renfre price is more than $200 less than raileurope, so it's worth the effort if I can get it to work. By the way, I did log in as a user on renfe. I also sent them an email but haven't gotten a response. Does anybody have any experience with this, or suggestions? I don't know what to do besides trying the same thing over and over again.Thanks!

Dna_613:
I have passed through the same problems; forget about Renfe's site,nobody is usually able to complete a transaction.
Last may i needed AVE tickets for our trip from Madrid to Valencia and return,and I ended at Logitravel (or, may be Logictravel); transaction was a breezr with a credit card; we printed the tickets and used them without any problem.
Those were discount tickets,with prices reduced some 40 % or even a little more.
good luck!!!

If you use search function, you will find a ton of information regarding Renfe problems.

These instructions may help. I've been successful purchasing tickets many times but it requires a great deal of persistence. The last time I tried 3 credit cards and one finally worked (my capital one wouldn't).


http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g1...s.Online..html

If, by chance, you and your travel companion are 60 yrs or older, you can purchase a senior card that is very cheap and you get a sizable discount on the trains even the Ave. We had a list of trains and the times we wanted, bought the card at the RENFRE office at terminal 1 at the Madrid airport and then purchased each separate train ticket at the discounted price. It took a little while because each transaction was done separately for me and then my husband. We used our passports (US) for ID.

Pat

Capitol One will not work ever.

Refer to the link to the guide provided by CathyM. Try other cards and pay greatest attention to point 49 in that guide.

I had the same problem. I went to Raileurope.com and found the tickets for the same price and they were shipped to my house. Good luck!

I just tried logitravel.com and they don't have tickets for any Paris to Barcelona trains, no matter what date I put in. I'm looking for mid-August, but I tried everything from tomorrow through October, and everything came up with "can't find trains for that route." Any ideas why that's happening? Coud they really be booked forever?

Still trying various tricks with renfe, but nothing's working yet. I'm getting quite a collection of error messages, though!

just to let you know - you can fly Vueling: Paris_Barcelona for 70 euros

I gave up on Renfe, used tgv-europe, just didn't put that I live in the US because then they transfer you to raileurope, which is much more expensive. Took me 5 minutes; what a pleasure!

I sent an email to renfe.com when I was in the midst of my problems, and here's the response I got from them today. I'm done with them, but maybe this will help others:


Please, check this points to be able to buy the tickets without issues:

• Make sure you introduce the CVV code. You can find this in the back of your credit card.
• Make sure you have "Secure Internet Operations" enabled for your credit card.
• Make sure you are using Internet Explorer and Windows OS.
• Make sure that you get on the page www.renfe.com directly, not through Google or any other search page.
• Make sure the level of security of your browser is set to medium or low.
• Make sure the antivirus and/or firewall are disabled and allow perfect access to our website.

If after checking all of these points your purchase still does not go through, we kindly ask you to book your tickets at the train station once you arrive in Spain or through a travel agency. You can also call our sales number and book your tickets that way. The number is as follows: (0034) 91 329 83 90.

try www.rumbo.es if all else fails as to not miss out on special webfares which most likely will have disappeared once you get to Spain. Otherwise, if no special fares and not a holiday weekend, probably can do it at airport/train station.

Not sure this will work for international routes but just so others have the info.